---
title: "eth_getBalance"
description: "Returns the ETH balance of an account at a given block on Base; use pending on Flashblocks for ~200ms pre-confirmed balances."
source: https://basehub.org/api-reference/eth/eth_getbalance/
---
import { Aside, Tabs, TabItem } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

Returns the ETH balance of an address at a given block.

<Aside type="tip">
**Flashblocks:** call `https://mainnet-preconf.base.org` with `"pending"` to read balances refreshed every ~200ms — before the block seals.
</Aside>

## Parameters

| Position | Name | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | `address` | string | The 20-byte address to query. Required. |
| 2 | `block` | string | Block number in hex, or `"latest"`, `"pending"`, `"safe"`, `"finalized"`, `"earliest"`. Pass `"pending"` on a Flashblocks endpoint for the pre-confirmed balance. Required. |

## Returns

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `result` | string | The balance in wei as a hexadecimal string. |

## Example

### Request

<Tabs>
  <TabItem label="Standard (latest)">

```bash
curl https://mainnet.base.org \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "eth_getBalance",
    "params": ["0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b8D4C9dD0b4f3BaEa", "latest"],
    "id": 1
  }'
```

  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="Flashblocks (pending, ~200ms)">

```bash
curl https://mainnet-preconf.base.org \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "eth_getBalance",
    "params": ["0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b8D4C9dD0b4f3BaEa", "pending"],
    "id": 1
  }'
```

  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

### Response

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": "0x1a055690d9db80000"
}
```